Screens and filters of various types are used in oil and gas well applications for control of particulate solids. Some of these are downhole screens designed to surround perforated portions of production tubing or a perforated production sub, so that produced fluids and gases may enter the production tubing while leaving undesirable solids, such as formation sand, in the annulus. During production operations, or operations such as fracturing or acidizing, production tubing is subjected to thermal changes, changes in pressures, and mechanical loads that cause the metallic tubing to expand or contract. Also, directional wells contain bends or elbows. When production tubing is run into a wellbore of this type, the tubing must conform to the bends or elbows. Bending of the production tubing induces tensile and compressive stresses within connection welds that affix the screen jacket to the tubing, sometimes causing the welds to weaken and break. Broken weld connections allow the screen jacket to slide along the tubing, uncovering the perforated portions of the production tubing.